fisher



2 Sheets-Sheet l M. H. FISHER. PILE UUIITING,l MACHINE.

No. 4,728. v Patented Aug. 29, 11846.

M. H. FISHER. FILE CUTTING MACHINE.

No. 4,728. Patented Aug. 29, 1846.

mr: mms PETERS co, PHOTO-LINO. wAsHlNsroN, D 9.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEioE.

j M. H. FISI-IER, OF BRIDGEWATER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO JOSEPH A. HYDE.

FILE-CUTTING MACHINERY.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 4,728, dated August 28, 1846.

To aZZrwLomy t may concern.'

Be it known that I, MAJOR H. FISHER, formerly ofv Auburn, in the county of Cayuga and State of New York, but now of Bridgewater, in the county of Plymouth and State of Massachusetts, have invented cer- Y t-ain new and useful Improvements in Machinery for Cutting Files, and that the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings hereinafter referred to, forms a full and exact specificaf tion of the same, wherein I haveset forth the nature and principles of my said im-v provements by which they may be distin-A guished from others which have been devised for a similar purpose, together with such parts or combinations of parts as I claim and desire to have secured to me by Letters Patent.

In devising machinery for cutting tiles, a ditliculty hitherto insurmountable, has been i experienced which results from the variation in the hardness or density of the metal, at different points of the blank to be wrought upon; or to state the difficulty more practically and specifically, where the i I ".piece of metal or blank is softer in some vpoints than others, the chisel will cut deeper in such points, and as the feeding motion is regular, the chisel at its next descent will strike in the groove previously made,'and

merely widen said groove without forming another tooth. Serious difficulty has also beeninet with in accommodating the chisel edge t-o the wind (so termed) o-f the blank,

. or the imperfection of its surface. These difficulties are avoided and surmounted by my improvements, my machine being so arranged as to imitate or perform automatically, as it were, the manual process which is now in vogue, for cutting files, and which consists in placing the chisel edge in advance of a tooth which has been formed and on the smooth part of the blank, and drawing Yit back unt-il the operative feels the said tooth, when the blow is limmediately given with a heavy hammer, which forms the succeeding tooth and its adjacent groove. In `my machine this function is effected, by so arranging the chisel, that for each groove and tooth, its cutting edge is made to reach out and slide back in a manner substantially analagous to the manual process above specified, the movements of the chisel being produced by mechanism which will be explained in the sequel.

drawings represent my improved file cutting machinery.

a longitudinal vertical section taken onv the vred line A B Figs. 1 and 3, and Fig. 3', is a` j transverse vertical section taken in the plane of the line C D Fig. 2. Figs. 4, 5 6, are detail views showing the various ways in which I have contemplated the application of the principle of one essential part of my improvements.

E E E E &c Figs. 1, 2 and 3 is the main framework of the machine, which supports Vthe several operative parts and which may rbe made of iron or any other suitable material. i j F F, Figs. 1 and 3 is the main driving I shaft, from which the various moving parts derive their motion, said shaft having a fast pulley G, and loose pulley II, on one end (for the application of the motive power in the usual way), and a iy wheel I, on the other end to regulate its motions.

The plain piece of steel or blank a a' as it is termed, the several faces of which are to be wrought upon, is placed upon a bed piece Z) (Figs. 1, and 2), made of some of the vsofter metals (for a reason which will `rbe 'obvio-us), said bed piece having a groove oppositely made on its upper side to receive Athe blank a a. The metallic bed piece b :is secured in a wide cavity or trough in the top `of the feeding block cy c, by means of the adjusting and confining screws cl, cl, d, o cZ,-`placed and operated as will be seen and vunderstood by inspection of Fig. 1. The blank a a is held always to a firm bearing in the said groove in the bed piece Z), by means of the weighted bands e e-c e secured each at one end to a confining screw CZ, Z as shownl in Fig. 1, and passing over the blank as shown in said figure. The feeding block c c is arranged in any proper manner so as to slide on the top of the framework E E, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and is drawn or `moved along by the revolving endless screw f f, which works in the nut g g. The two halves ofthis nut g, g, are made adjustable as shown in Fig. 7, by means of a spring j, connecting bar jand lever L by turning which lever up or down the nut will be thrown out ofv or into connection with the screw. This screw is revolved by a twisted band z' z', passing from a drinn or pulley 71:

Fig. 2 near one of its ends, to and arounda Figure 1, is a plan of the same. Fig. 2, is

transverse revolving shaft Z Figs. 2 and 3 having bearings in t-he lower part of the framework; the shaft Z is revolved by a band passing from a pulley m near one of its journals to and around a pulley non the driving shaft F F.

I now come to those parts of the machine which embrace my improvements, and I shall proceed to show their distinguishing characteristics, these parts have relation to the method'of sustaining and operating the chisel. In many or most of the file cutting machines which have hitherto been invented, so far as I am informed of their construction, and operation, the chisel has been held firmly, either in the hammer or striker, or in a vibrating arm under the same, and the blank has been drawn along under the edge of the chisel, by any proper and regular feed motion, so as to present it at proper points to be cut by the chisel at the successive blows of the hammer. Both of these modes of arrangement for the reason hereinbefore stated of the varying .hardness of the blank, have been found inadequate and unsuccessful in forming good or perfect files.

The chisel 0 is arranged so as to move up and down and shift its position in the rectangular slot of the chisel frame p. (See Figs. 1 and 2), and red lines in Fig. l, being guided and actuated in its movements, by the long bent spring Q in front, the vertical bent spring 1", in its rear, the horizontal bent spring 03, having a button d3, Xed at its end, said button bearing against the rear face of the chisel near its top, and the wedge shaped stud or projection s, standing on the front face of the chisel near its top, and also the front piece or lip w of the chisel frame p.

The bent spring g performs one of the most essential functions, in operating the chisel, in a manner similar to the manual process herein above suggested, which function is pulling the chisel out, after each blow of the hammer, in front of a) tooth previously formed preparatory to its being drawn or pressed back against the same, (by the lip, 'w as hereinafter explained) for the formation of a succeeding groove and tooth. The upper end of this spring is confined to the projection t, from the top of the chisel frame 79, While the lower end passes through a slot u in the lip or front piece w, of said frame, and through a hole v in the chisel 0, (where it assumes or has the shape and office of a pivot or pin w3 for the support of said chisel), to the rear side of the same, where it is bent down in such a manner as to tend to hold the chisel against the inner face of the lip w, and also to press said chisel down as shown in the drawing. By this arrangement of the parts above described, it will be seen, that when the chisel-frame p is in the process of rising (which process will be explained in the sequel), the chisel o will not begin to rise until the top of the lip w of the frame p reaches the stud s, accordingly the lip w moving first, and the feed motion continuing, the front face of the chisel will have a tendency to be separated a little from the lip w; but when the chisel does begin to rise, and is raised out of'the groove, and free of the tooth just formed, the spring g will pull the edge of the chisel forward, against the lip -wand in front of such toot-h; this will give the chisel a position i`n which its front face will form an angle more obtuse with the remaining plain face of the blank, than before, the wedge shaped stud s assisting in this operation of throwing or moving the chisel edge forward. But when the said frame p descends again, the chisel edge, (as will be apparent from inspection of Fig. 2), will first come in contact with the face of the blank, and as the frame p continues, after this, to descend its lip or front piece fwwill press the chisel edge back until it comes against the toot-h last formed, while at the same time the spring c3 Fig. l, by pressing its button Z3 against the rear of the chisel 0, will bring the front face of said chisel to a fair bearing against the inner face of the lip -w-, and then the chisel will be in proper position for the blow of the hammer and the formation of another tooth. rIhe back spring 1 is intended to assist in guiding and steadying the chisel in its movements, though it might be perhaps entirely dispensed with, without materially affecting the operation of the machine.

The chisel frame p, is supported in the forked ends fc, a2, of the swivel frame y, as shown by red lines in Fig. 1, by means of the journals a', a on the sides of said chisel frame and the confining nuts bon said journals. This swivel frame turns on a proper hinge or pin a in the end of the vibrating lever or arm c c Figs. 2 and 3, and by turning this swivel frame round on the pin 2 to various positions, the teeth may be cut on the blank either straight across or in oblique lines. The vibrating lever c 0 or chisel arm as I shall term it, turns on a proper fulcrum or pin CZ in the upright frame piece e, which piece e is fitted in an' elongated slot -fcut through the rocker shaft g g Figs. 1, 2 and 3, being confined in any position in said slot by a binding screw 7L. The rear end of the chisel arm c c is connected by means of an arm s3 (which turns freely on a pin tted in said end as shown in Fig. 2,), to an arm or lever z", arranged in the elongated slot a (shown distinctly in Fig. 3,), in the shaft c h', which I denominate the chisel actuating shaft; this arrangement of L the arms .a3 and z" being such as to form an L- joint as it were from the end of the chisel arm o c to vsaid actuating shaft. This shaft la la derives its motion from an eccentric l on the driving shaft F F, which eccentric works against the end of the arm lm fixed on said shaft lc 7a as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2; a counteracting spring g3 ys is also connected to said shaft lo la through the medium of the lever and cord n3-n3, the combined operation of which spring, &c., with the eccentric Z and arm m will be readily understood, while it will be as clearly seen, how the turning of said shaft 7c 7c will vibrate the chisel arm c c', and thereby alternately lift the chisel edge from, and carry it down to, the face of the blank to be cut.

The elongated slots jfl-fn above mentioned, as being formed respectively, in the shafts g g and 7c lc allow the chisel arm c c to be moved, so that oblique teeth can be cut. on the blank, which will be in the reverse direction to those which can be formed While t-he said arm is in t-he position denoted in Fig. 1. The rocker shaft g and chisel actuating shaft lc lo have suitable bearings in the sides of the framework E E, and the former shaft g g is heldin any position by the following contrivance. The cord 0 0 passes froman upright arm p on said shaft, to a spring g at the rear of the machine; this arrangement of said cord o 0 spring q and arm p has a tendency to pull or turn the rocker shaft g g backward, but this tendency is counteracted, where there is no other strain, by the ratchet sector s', on the top of the arm r', attached to saidv shaft g g, the teeth of which ratchet engage with the spring pawl t', secured at one end to the cross bar or rod u. The arms 7? r are arranged at opposite ends of the rocker shaft g g', and the teeth on the ratchet sector s are so formed and connected with the pawl t as to permit the shaft g g, to turn forl ward or toward the front of the machine, when sufficient strain by reason of the resistance which the chisel meets with against a tooth (when one larger than usual has been cut on the blank) is exerted on the upright frame piece e', through the medium of the chisel arm c o, &c., to overcome the resistance arising from the arrangement of the cord 0 0, spring g and arm p as above specified. Now when as Ihave herein before suggested, the chisel comes to a soft place in the blank, it will form as stated a wider groove and a larger tooth, t-han where the blank is harder; and when the chisel is again raised and directed out in front of said tooth as above explained, it will, in having its cutting edge pushed back by the lip fw meet the tooth previously formed sooner than ordinarily, and being kept down incontact with the blank by the long spring q, the resistance which it meets with against the tooth, draws the chisel arm 0 c and upright frame piece e forward, (overcoming the resistance of the spring g, and

.turns the rocker shaft proportionally, and

consequently moves the sector `ratchet s, so 7,0

that the pawl t engages with another tooth of said ratchet, and thereby keeps vthe ratchet s and rocker-shaftk g g in the position t-hus assumed, and preserves the gain on the feed motion thus made in a manner which will be readily understood.

Another mode, in which I have contemplated the application of the principle of the above described mechanical arrangement for preserving the gain in t-he feed 30 motion is as follows: I arrange the metallic bed piece b, in the cavity or trough of the feeding block c c, so that it may slide along kin the same, a retarding spring being vplaced in rear of said bed piece and feeding 857 block as shown in Fig. 4, which is adetail elevation of said parts; a frame piece o is fastened to the front of the bed piece b, and in a slot in this frame piece, a helix-shaped ratchet w is arranged so as to turn; there 90,v

are also a coiled spring z on the side of said ratchet w', and a pawl y attached to the front of the feeding block c c, which pawl engages with the teeth ofthe ratchet w. This helix shaped ratchet is set with its tooth, which is at the smallest distance from its axis, in connection with the pawl y, and when the chisel edge pulls against a tooth on the blank, it will pull the bed piece b and its frame piece o forward and there- 10g by disengage the ratchet w from its pawl y, while at the same time the coiled spring e will pull the ratchet w around or down, until a tooth more remote from its axis engages with the pawl y', and thus the gain 10,5 von the feed motion is preserved by a me- 1 chanical arrangement analagous to that before described.

Still another mode of effecting t-he result just above specified. is represented in Figs. 11,0 35 and -6, the principle of operationlbeing` substantially the same as in those above de scribed. In this case the chisel arm c c is arranged, so as to slide in a vibrating frame a2 a2 which should be secured to the rocker 115 vshaft g g', spring c2 operating like that above referred by its ends b2 b2; a retarding to at m in Fig. 4, is placed at the rear end of the chisel arm c c', one end of said spring being connected to the frame a2 a2, (it being 120 understood that the swivel frame y, Figs. l

`and 2, with its appendages is connected to and turns on the circular head piece d2 of the chisel arm c c. A heli-X shaped ratchet -e2- similar to that above described is ar- 125 ranged on the small shaft f2. f2, (Fig. 5)

Awhich has suit-able bearings 1n thefframe` a? a2. The ratchet e2 turns in a slot .g2 g2 in the chisel arm c 0, the front edge of which slot is chamfered off, so as to operate as a 130 pawl and engage with the teeth of the ratchet c2, as shown at h2, Fig. 6. A coiled spring 2 is arranged on the side of the ratchet e2, yso as to draw and turn it down when said ratchet is free to move, so that when the chiseledge, coming in contact with a tooth on the blank pulls the chisel arm c c forward, the gain thus made on the feed motion is preserved by the heliX shaped ratchet e2 in the same manner as has been above described and referred to in Fig. t. There may be other ways in which the parts above described or others mechanically and dynamically equivalent to them may be ar ranged to effect the desired result, of making and preserving any gain made on the feed motion as herein before specified, but the principle or modus operandi will be substantially the same as in those I have described above, it being essential, that either the bed piece on which the blank is held, or the chisel arm which operates the chisel should be so arranged as to be capable of yielding when the chisel edge strains against a tooth, and that the advance or gain made by such yielding shall be retained by a ratchet and pawl or other analogous device. The blow on the top of the chisel is given bya hammer or striker Z22, arranged on the outer end of the vibrating lever Z2 Z2. The inner end of this lever is secured to the shaft m2 m2, Figs. 2 and 3, which has suitable bearings in the framework E E in which bearings it turns sufliciently to vibrate the lever Z2 Z2. The turning of said shaft m2 m2 is effected by means of its arm n2, Figs. 2 and 3, which bears against and is operated upon, by the escapement cam 02 on the driving shaft F F. The force of the blow by the hammer is regulated by the horizontal spring p2 p2, one end of which bears upon the top of t-he hammer 7a2 while the other is Xed on the cross bar or rod u and is projected out in rear of the same as shown in Fig. l. The rigidity or elastic power of this spring p2 p2 may be increased or diminished by the screws g2 Q2, which operate through the ends of the regulating bar v3 (fastened to the top of the cross bar u), in a manner which will be understood by inspection of Fig. 2. 4`

The eccentric Z and escapement cam 02 are arranged loosely on the 'driving shaft F F and may be thrown into or out of connection with a stud 712 on said shaft so as -to revolve with it or remain stationary, while the said shaft continues to turn. This result is effected as follows. A grooved collet s2 is attached to the side of the escapement cam 02 as shown in Fig. 1, and a projection m2 from the side of this collet comes in contact with the stud 'r2 when the said cams revolve with the shaft. A fork Z2 project-ing from the shaft u2 fits into the groove of the collet s2, and said shaftu is so arranged in bearings in the framework F F as to slide in the direction of its length. Whenthe projection v2 from the side of the collet s2 is in connection with the stud 7'2, it is kept so by the lever o2 o2, which has a fulcrum at 'L02 at the rear of the machine and presses against the pin y2 on the underside of Athey tionary. The arrangement of the above described parts for gearing and ungearing is such, that when the teeth are raised on the blank throughout the length of one of its faces, the whole operative machinery will be made to cease to work by means of the stud b3 on one side of the feeding block c c, which stud, at the stage of the process just mentioned, comes in contact with the beveled end of the lever o2 o2 and throws said lever out of its notch at z3, and thereby allows the spring a3 to disengage the eccentric Z and cam 02 from the driving shaft, while at the same time the upper side of said lever v2 02, presses on the underside of the lever L, raises said lever and throws the nut g g out of connection with the screw f f. The feeding block c cmay then be drawn back, another face of the blank turned up and the machinery be set by hand for renewed operation. A

The arrangement of the chisel o so that it may turn freely as herein before explained or hanging it upon the pivot end w3 of the spring g, causes the edge of said chisel when it comes in Contact with the face of the blank to be adjusted with reference to the imperfection of said face or to be accommodated to the wind of the same, such faces being usually not perfectly true. This result cannot be attained wherethe chisel is firmly held, either in the striker or in an arm under the same, and accordingly in machines of such construction the teeth on the blank are not made uniform.

It will be apparent to any mechanic conversant with machinery of this description, that springs of a different form from those above described, and springs somewhat varied from the positions and adjustments above set forth, and in some instances weights in lieu of some of the springs, may be used to effect the same results wit-h those above described, and still the principle and combined action be substantially the same.

Having thus described my improved le cutting machinery I shall state my claims as follows:

the feed motion substantially in the manner or upon the principles herein-above set forth.

In testimony that the foregoing is a true description of my said improvements I have 15 hereto set my signature this twenty ninth day of April in the year eighteen hundred and forty six.

VMAJOR H. FISHER. Witnesses:

EZRA LINCOLN, Jr., LUTHUR BRIGGS, Jr. 

